Julia More Interesting Than Julie

We went to the movies last night to see Julie & Julia (or was it Julia & Julie?). The movie finally made its way to our local cheapie cinema so the two of us saw it for the grand total of $3.50. We could have gotten in for a grand total of $1.50 on a Tuesday. But it was date night, so we splurged. I thoroughly enjoyed the Julia Child part of the movie and think her life on its own would have made a fascinating movie. But I understand the "news peg" or "hook" of the movie: a young woman who wants to be a writer starts a blog to chronicle her attempt to cook all 500-plus recipes in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking during a one-year period. A nice gimmick (apparently about the same reaction Child had regarding the project: a gimmick). But the gimmick worked and the young woman got her book and a movie out of the effort. Meryl Streep delivered her usual excellent performance, her biggest trick being how she was able to come across as 6-foot-2 Child considering she is only 5-6 at the most. But she pulled off the look and the mannerisms, the voice, the way Child carried herself with such skill that you forgot she wasn't the real thing. I imagine younger women, especially those young enough to have never known anything about Julia Child, will identify more with Julie. But I pretty much endured the sections about Julie (the movie moved back and forth between the two women) just waiting for the movie to travel back to Julia.